Night with a Witch
by Bitway
Summary: What goes from a dull night turns into something more interesting. {Rose/Phoenix}


A loud yawn escapes with no attempt to conceal it. The sound of it is mixed in with the noise coming from the television. He thinks it goes unheard as there's no response from either of those he's currently staying with. The girl sitting on the couch is unmoving, focus swept up by the television. Meanwhile, her brother is sitting off to the side of the room trying to find something to preoccupy himself with. That left Phoenix on his own, growing tired and-

"Bored."

It's a nonchalant comment. A common one that the twins have heard before. He doesn't really care if he sounds like a broken record at this point. It was just something that needed to be said.

Phoenix lets his back rest against the couch, trying to get into a comfortable position without having to move onto said couch. He's grateful for the pillow Rose had passed him earlier to sit on, making his stay on the ground more comfortable. His eyes seem to focus on the television for a moment. A brow is raised, confused and not quite understanding how the girl was so wrapped up in this soap opera. Perhaps it was a human thing in this time. To love dramatic tales told within a 'classier' setting.

As fascinated as he was with the concept of television and moving pictures, in this moment it had lost his interest. More so for the story rather than today's current technology. Phoenix lets out a sigh, letting his gaze slowly fall to the other person in the room. His crossed eyes meet with sharp golden ones for just a second. It's all he needs to get his attention.

"Hey, Cyan."

"That's Shadow Joker to you!" He snaps.

"Aren't you going to go out and steal something tonight?" Phoenix asks, unbothered by his attitude.

"Why do you care? Even if I was, I wouldn't want some annoying birdbrain to tag along."

"Eh? I wasn't going to do that. I just thought it would be better than staying here all night. There's _nothing_ to do here."

Shadow could feel the anger bubbling inside a mile away. The alien's whining always managed to get on his nerves. _Always_. It makes him get to his feet, glare focused on the red head.

"No one asked for you to stay here! Why don't you just get out and do your own damn stealing then?"

"The question: Why am I still here? One, because I like your castle. Two-"

"Bloody Rain!"

The instant those words rang throughout the room, the alien had jumped to his feet. While he had managed to dodge the attack, the pillow underneath had taken the blow. Shadow clicked his tongue at having just missed his target.

"Big brother!" Rose chimes in, head finally turning away from the screen. "Be careful where you shoot!"

Her words don't reach him. She realizes that when she sees the murderous intent in his eyes. She could already begin to predict what was about to happen.

Meanwhile, Phoenix had managed to move behind the couch. As he was leaning against it, he let out a well timed yawn, making it seem as if he was taunting Shadow.

"Get. Out!"

With his umbrella aimed at the alien, a barrage of red beams are shot directly at him. Phoenix is forced to move about now, dodging every beam thrown his way. A grin begins to form on his face, finding some type of excitement from this 'game'. It's not much, but it does beat sitting down and doing nothing.

Missing his target only causes Shadow's anger to grow, especially when he hears that damn bird say, "can't even land one hit on me?"

Rose had been trying to watch her show, but couldn't focus on it with the boys fighting behind her. And she knew her brother wasn't going to stop until he landed a mark or Phoenix left. Neither was an option she liked. She gets to her feet with a sigh, ready to turn and see the damage done to their home. It could all be replaced and fixed, she knew, but it would be nice to go one week without having to look for replacements.

Before she can intervene, a window is struck. Glass falls, thankfully more outside, and lets in a cool breeze. Seeing an exit, Phoenix smirks. In an instant, he's engulfed in purple flames. Within a few seconds, he's come out of his fiery cocoon, showing off his true form. With wings, he's able to take flight and find his escape out the window.

"Better luck next time," could be heard on his way out.

Shadow darts to the window, wanting to try and get a last hit on him. He readies his umbrella, ready to strike at the night sky. But, there's no silhouette of an alien bird around.

"Stupid bird."

"Big brother…" Rose had walked over to his side, a frown on her face. Her gaze shifted out towards the sky, searching for Phoenix. Like her brother, she found nothing. The girl pouts. "You should apologize to him."

"Apologize to him? Never," he huffs. Stubborn. An apology was too much to ask from her brother at the moment. In time he might…in his own way.

"Please, don't chase him out at least? You know he doesn't have anywhere else to go. It's either with us or Joker."

Hearing _his_ name doesn't make him feel any better, even if she did have a point.

"Better he annoy him than us," he mutters before turning and leaving her side at the window.

Rose watches her brother walk out of the now mostly destroyed room before turning her gaze back out the broken window. Her hand nearly touches the broken sill as she searches for a sign that Phoenix might still be nearby. As if on cue, an orange feather falls. She catches it.

He hadn't disappeared into the night like they thought.

A smile forms and she breaks into a run to go and find him. She ignores the thought of Shadow telling her to 'let the bird be'. She couldn't let him be on his own, especially not after that. The alien was always welcomed, even if Shadow would say otherwise. It's not like he seemed bothered by it and he never asked for an apology.

Rose finds her way onto the roof. The old door creaks open, breaking the silent night. There, she finds Phoenix, who had returned to his more human more. His gaze is focused up on the night sky, looking preoccupied with thoughts, distracted by…something.

"Phoenix!"

"Hm?" He blinks, snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of her voice. As he turns to face her, she swears that he had a saddened look on his face before wearing that usual smile.

"Sorry about my brother," she apologizes as she walks towards him. "You know how he gets. I think he's still angry about losing to Joker the other night."

"Its fine." He shrugs. "I had some fun with that little game." A chuckle escapes. Rose smiles, glad that nothing seemed to be wrong.

"Anyway," he continues before she can even offer him to come back inside. "That…show you were watching. What was that anyway?"

"You mean the drama?" Rose's eyes sparkled to life. She was ready to go off about the show she'd been watching, tell him all the juicy bits and details, who her favorite characters were, what she thought was going to happen next.

"Well, not that. Sort of. What I meant was more of what they were doing."

"Huh?"

Phoenix pauses, thinking of how to explain this properly.

"That weird…dance they were doing. I've only ever seen them done for rituals or to entertain those in power here. And it didn't seem like they were doing either one."

"Oh." So, he wasn't curious about the show, but the dancing in it? It almost made her want to laugh. Out of everything, it was the dance he was curious about. She shouldn't be so surprised. He had been asleep for years and modern things were foreign to him. And that was a feeling she was familiar with, a little too well.

"It was ballroom dancing."

"Ball…room?"

"Yeah! It's a type of dance done. Like you saw, they usually do them at fancy parties." She takes a step closer to him, close enough to offer her hand. "I can show you how to do it if you like. We can even make it a game!"

"A dancing game?" Now his eyes had seem to sparkle with the mention of the word 'game'. "But you have an advantage knowing how to dance."

She shakes her head. "I don't really know how to dance all the steps. I'm more of a beginner. We can practice beforehand so we can both be familiar with the steps."

"Hmm…" A short pause is akin as he stares at her extended hand. Then, he reaches out to hold it. "Deal. So, how's this work?"

She pulls the other a bit too close as their hands intertwine. She had to think of how this would go. Truthfully, this had been offered without much thought.

"How about…the one who doesn't step on the other's foot wins?"

"And the loser grants the winner's wish?"

"Yes! But we'll make that a surprise."

Rose separates from him for a moment, only to pull out her phone to find some music for them to dance to. She manages to find a playlist that they could easily move to the beat. With that playing, she sets it aside before returning to Phoenix.

As she recalls the basics, hands meet while other hand leads his free one to her waist. The boy looks confused, but doesn't question the action. This was all part of the game.

"Okay, so first…"

Rose starts with a simple explanation of the steps- the box step. First with words, then with action.

Phoenix finds it difficult. He's never been one to dance with another person, or even get this close to someone. And he'd never been one to have to move on his feet like this. It was easier to fly or jump around than do this. It proves to be a challenge to keep up, to listen to her count, and to be in time with the music. But, it's fun.

They do a couple of practice rounds, both stepping on each other, Phoenix more so. But, he's determined to win when they decide to really start the game. With the rule of them not being able to look at their feet thrown in, they begin to dance.

Keeping to the rhythm of the music, they move across the roof. Their box step slowly gaining momentum. Simple steps, small ones, seem to grow the longer the dance continues.

"I never knew there could be dances like this," Phoenix says.

"There's a lot actually! This one is one of my favorites."

"Why's that?"

"It just seems fun," she giggles. "Especially when the girl is twirled around."

Phoenix falls quiet, trying to think what she meant by that. He thinks back to the drama, trying to remember what he managed to catch onscreen. There was dancing, similar to what they were doing and- the twirl.

"Something like this?"

Without even giving her time to respond, during one of their steps, their intertwined hands are pulled up. Gently, he pushes her with his hand on her waist to get her started on this spin. She laughs while she does this spin, imaging how amazing it looks to mimic those on television.

As the twirl is completed, Phoenix smiles, proud to have done something like this during their game. But, his shining moment doesn't last long. Returning to their rhythm after that twirl proved to be difficult. He'd forgotten about which foot moves first and, unfortunately, it finds it's way onto Rose's shoe.

They stop.

"I lost." He pouts.

"Aww…"

"Why're you sad? You won."

"Well, I was hoping the game would go on a little longer."

"Maybe another time. For now, what's your wish?"

That's right. She nearly forget that a 'wish' was supposed to be granted for the winner. An old thought comes to mind, something she'd been wanting to do.

"My wish…is for you to let me give you this?"

"Hm?"

She ends up squeezing his hand, taking a small step closer. She goes on her toes, wanting to be a little taller. A quick peck on his cheek is given before she steps back, releasing his hand from hers. A slight blush appears on her cheeks that's accompanied by a smile.

Rose finds that she had caught him off guard. She doubts he was expecting something like that as her prize. It's not something she could do, especially when her brother was around.

"I hope we can do this again. And I hope you'll still stay with us tonight?"

Phoenix blinks, as if coming out of a trance. A hand is placed upon where she had kissed. The prize was strange, but warm. It almost felt like he was the one who had won.

"Sure. I think I'll stay with you a little longer."


End file.
